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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. court — of law
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. chip — for betting
  6. land — to come down
  7. court — for sport
  8. land — a country
  9. kid — child
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — to tease
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. foot — a measure
  14. sharp — clever
  15. tube — the underground
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. land — ground
  19. chip — to eat
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. tube — a container
  23. wake — a trail
  24. court — of a king

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com